In Brief
The appellants were convicted of kidnapping, abducting, and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2008. The trial court sentenced them to 5, 7, and 10 years respectively but did not specify whether sentences should run concurrently or consecutively. The High Court modified only default stipulations. The Supreme Court held that courts must explicitly specify whether sentences run concurrently or consecutively; silence means consecutive running. However, in light of the appellants' 13 years of imprisonment already served, good conduct, and extreme disproportionality, the Court capped maximum imprisonment at 14 years using Article 142 powers, balancing punishment with justice.
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